Events & Calendars An Evening with Michael Lewis

Join us for an evening with journalist and best-selling author Michael Lewis, whose forthcoming book The Fifth Risk explores the transition of government agencies from the Obama administration to the Trump administration. The talk will be moderated by Cullen Murphy '74, former chair of the Amherst College Board of Trustees and former editor-at-large of Vanity Fair.

A sharp observer of politics, finance and the evolution of American culture, Michael Lewis combines keen insight with his signature wit, making him one of today’s leading social commentators. Lewis’ program takes a fresh, hard look at the ever-changing value systems that drive our economic markets, political landscapes and cultural norms, and how organizations can adapt their thought strategies to facilitate growth among all three.

Michael Lewis has published 16 books on subjects ranging from politics to Wall Street. Lewis‘s newest book, The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, which debuted on Oct. 2, 2018, examines a government in crisis. It explores the Trump Administration's failure to fill vacancies in some of the most important positions in crucial government agencies like the Departments of Agriculture, Energy and Commerce. With so much at stake, Lewis seeks out the (former) linchpins of the system—those public servants whose knowledge, dedication and proactivity kept the machinery running for so many years—and asks them what keeps them up at night.

Cullen Murphy ’74 served on Amherst College's Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2018. He served as chair of the board from 2012 to 2018.

Murphy holds a B.A. in European studies from Amherst. In 2018 he rejoined The Atlantic as editor-at-large. He is a writer and former editor-at-large of Vanity Fair magazine. Before arriving at Vanity Fair in 2006, he was an associate editor of Change magazine (1975 to 1977), senior editor of The Wilson Quarterly (1977 to 1985) and then managing editor of The Atlantic Monthly (1985 to 2005). His books include Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage, with co-author William L. Rathje (2001); The Word According to Eve: Women and the Bible in Ancient Times and Our Own (1998); Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America (2008); and God's Jury: The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World (2013). His latest book, Cartoon County: My Father and His Friends in the Golden Age of Make-Believe, was published in November 2017.